National Foundation for Credit Counseling
WHAT WE DO:
Founded in 1951, and headquartered in Silver Spring, MD, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, Inc. (NFCC) is the nation's oldest and largest not-for-profit credit counseling organization. With 109 member agencies and nearly 900 local offices throughout the country, NFCC Member Agencies provide counseling and education to more than 2.5 million people per year. All members are 501(c)(3) nonprofit, mission-driven, community-based organizations and many are known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS), but all Members can be identified by the NFCC Member seal. The NFCC promotes the national agenda for financially responsible behavior and builds capacity for its members to deliver the highest quality financial education and counseling services.
WHAT WE OFFER:
Financial Literacy Classes
NFCC Members offer thousands of financial literacy classes each year on a number of topics in communities across the country. These classes address such topics as: homeownership, foreclosure prevention, bankruptcy, budgeting, financial planning, and handling credit.
Financial Literacy Consumer Guides and Videos
The NFCC publishes a number of consumer guides including a pre-purchase homeowner guide - Keys To Homeownership; a personal guide to budgeting and financial literacy principles - Better Fortunes; and bankruptcy pre-filing and post-discharge education guides - More Than One Way Out: Personal Bankruptcy, Consequences and Alternatives and Live a Richer Life: A Roadmap to Personal Financial Health Following Bankruptcy. All guides are available in both English and Spanish. The NFCC also produced an educational DVD and toolkit introducing credit to College Freshman titled College Credit for Life.
Credit and Budget Counseling
The counseling is delivered individually or in a classroom environment, depending on the needs of the client. NFCC Member Agencies are equipped to deliver face-to-face counseling, as well as telephone and Internet-based counseling.
- Financial/budget counseling
- Credit report review
- Bankruptcy counseling and education
- Debt management plans
- Specialized programs (employee assistance programs, tax preparation...)
Housing Counseling Services
- Foreclosure prevention and loss mitigation counseling
- Pre-purchase housing counseling
- Homebuyer education programs and seminars
- Down payment assistance programs
- Post-closing housing counseling
- Homeless counseling
- Predatory lending education
- Homeownership voucher counseling (section 8)
- Reverse mortgage counseling
Additional Services Available
Most NFCC Member Agencies offer additional and more specialized services (e.g., special populations programs, asset building programs) as well as instant access to a comprehensive network of social services agencies (legal aid, financial power of attorney...)
WHAT WE NEED:
The NFCC is committed to promoting financial literacy in all communities across the United States. We encourage the participation of Jump$tart Coalition Partners both locally with NFCC Member Agencies across the country as well as nationally with NFCC initiatives, including those listed below: 2008 Annual Leaders Conference, 2008 Protect Your Identity Week, and 2009 Financial Literacy Poster Contest.
WHAT'S NEW:
Leaders Conference in Baltimore
The NFCC will hold its 43rd Annual Leaders Conference at the Tremont Plaza Suite Hotel and Tremont Grand in Baltimore, MD from September 8-11, 2008. The 2008 Conference will include topics about the current economic environment including where the American consumer is with outstanding debt and increasing losses; housing and asset preservation; the opportunities and potential risks of reverse mortgages; consumer financial education-intervention and prevention; new regulatory guidance; and a host of other technical topics.
We are fortunate to have some extraordinary speakers joining us in Baltimore this September. This includes high level government representatives The Honorable Anna Escobedo Cabral, U.S. Treasurer and The Honorable Brian D. Montgomery, Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner as well as inspirational speakers Dorothy Hamill and Jeannette Walls, best-selling author of The Glass Castle.
To register, visit www.nfcc.org or contact Mary Ann Reott at (301) 576-2513 or at Turn on JavaScript!. Registration deadline is August 19.
National Protect Your Identity Week Scheduled for October
The NFCC and its Member Agencies are hosting the first annual Protect Your Identity Week this Fall from October 19-25. During this week, free educational public events implemented by NFCC Member Agency educators will take place across the country, to include: Identity Theft seminars, credit report reviews, shredding events, credit scoring seminars, etc.
Through the NFCC's new consumer Web site www.ProtectYourIDNow.org (which will go live in September), the NFCC will also provide:
- Video testimonials from consumers who had their identities stolen;
- Consumer tips and information about how to prevent identity theft;
- A consumer ID Theft Quiz;
- Steps to take if you are a victim of ID theft;
- Information about NFCC Member Agency events planned across the country in conjunction with Protect Your Identity Week 2008; and
- Available resources to assist consumers.
MSN Money has joined this initiative as the official national media partner for Protect Your Identity Week 2008 and will be working with the NFCC to promote the Week, including events and the consumer Web site in a number of ways. This includes articles written by their personal finance writers, including Liz Pulliam Weston, advertisements throughout their Web site, and a message board event on October 21, which is estimated to reach more than 600,000 readers. In addition, national and local news releases and other media outreach will take place to promote not only awareness of this prevalent crime, but also the education provided through this national initiative across the country.
The NFCC is currently reaching out to NFCC partners and other national organizations who we believe have an interest in educating their members/affiliates/audience about the threat of ID theft to invite them to partner with us for this year's Protect Your Identity Week.
For more information about being a national partner for National Protect Your Identity Week 2008, contact Bob Ensinger at Turn on JavaScript!.
2009 National Financial Literacy Poster Contest
The NFCC is preparing for its 2009 Financial Literacy Poster Contest. Thousands of entries from coast to coast will be submitted through NFCC Member Agencies across the country in early 2009 with local and national awards presented to the contest winners. The National Winner will be recognized at Jump$tart's Annual Awards Dinner on April 1, 2009. The theme for the 2009 contest is "I'm going to be a millionaire because I..." For more information or for sponsorship opportunities, contact Bob Ensinger at (301) 576-2544 or Turn on JavaScript!.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Bob
Ensinger
(301)
576-2544
Turn on JavaScript!
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Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy |
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